Under the moon’s glare, three fillies sneaked around, trying not to be caught in their scheming as they approached the mansion of their goal. Little hooves thudded on dirt as the bow-clad pony carefully looked around, before diving into a nearby bush, her compatriots following into the shubbery.
Who were these mysterious fillies? Why were they out at such a time? What was their goal.
In order to find out, we have to rewind to earlier in the day.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all sat in their treehouse, pondering on what to do. Diamond Tiara had been ramping up her campaign of bullying and harassment and she needed to be taken down a peg.
"Alright Crusaders!" Apple Bloom announced to nopony in particular. "How are we gonna take care of Diamond Tiara?"
"Well, we could ask her nicely?" Sweetie Belle piped up, opting to take the most straightforward option.
Apple Bloom shook her head, her bow bouncing from the filly's head movement. "Nah, I tried that already. She just shoved mah head down a toilet. Called a "swirl-ee" I think?"
Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully as the final member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders spoke up. "Why don't we steal something of hers? She stole my scooter a few days back!"
Apple Bloom responded in the most respectful way possible by slamming her head against the wooden platform that served as her podium. "Nah, we can't do that. We'd get tried as crimminals and her lawyers are the best in Equestria. She sued Sugarcube Corner for their cupcakes being "too sweet" and won!"
"Wasn't that because Pinkie Pie was putting too much sugar in the cupcakes?" Scootaloo spoke up again, remembering the carnage that was the Sugar Rush of 2014.
"Oh right. Never mind then." Apple Bloom responded, only now remembering what happened. "Still, we can't steal anything physical. Would never hold up in court."
"Well, if it can't be anything physical," Sweetie Belle started, deviousness in her cute emerald eyes. "Why don't we steal something emotional from her?"
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin in a ponderous manner. "Ah see where you're going with this. Applejack did tell me 'bout that Our Town business that happened a few weeks ago. We could always steal her cutie mark!"
"I... That was rather sudden." Scootaloo spoke for the other two ponies present in the club. "How would you even go about that?"
Sweetie Belle put her hooves together, rubbing them in contemplative glee. "You leave that to me..."
Apple Bloom wandered through Ponyville, looking for anypony suspicious that happened to be around. Having lived in the bustling village for some time now, she had some idea of who the locals were, so anypony new would be instantly obvious to her. A few minutes of wandering around later, she spotted a pony who stood out from the crowd, rather literally as she wasn't in the nearby crowd clamouring for apples. She seemed to be watching the pony at the stand, her own big sister. The squeaky unicorn filly was too busy tending to the crowd to notice the former mayor as she trotted away... Right into Apple Bloom's path.
"Oof! Ah'm sorry!" Apple Bloom "accidentally" bumped into the mulberry mare, knocking her to her flank as the farm filly got back up. "Are yah alright?"
"Fine." The mare stated coldly. "What do you want, I'm a very busy mare."
"Ya wouldn't happen to know of one Starlight Glimmer, would you?"
The mare's hoof was quickly shoved into Apple Bloom's muzzle. "How do you know my name?" Starlight seethed silently. "Look, you seem like a nice filly, so I'll let you off without a scratch, I'll even do a favour for you."
"Oh, really?" Apple Bloom's eyes gained a wicked aura to them. "Well, ya see..."
Opening the window quietly, Apple Bloom took her time to scope out the mansion's corridor before combat rolling in, indicating for her compatriots to follow her inside, as the coast was clear. Sneaking around the Rich household, they took in the details of the place in, with the various pictures of the Rich family together, including severa of Diamond Tiara herself with various important and otherwise rich ponies such as Princess Celestia, Suri Polomare, even the Flim Flam brothers. Scootaloo took the time to slightly tilt some of the frames as the trio trotted through, giggling deviously to herself as the other two looked at her in confusion.
Eventually hitting the end of the hallway, they were confronted with several rooms ,most unmarked or otherwise open, but one in particular being closed and marked with "Little Princess Tiara's Room.", causing the ponies present to retch from the sheer sickening sweetness of the sign, even Sweetie Belle the resident "nice pony" of the three.
Using her magic to open the door without a sound, the unicorn filly took her time as she crept into Diamond Tiara's room, jar in hand. The mysterious Starlight Glimmer had told Apple Bloom the basics of Cutie Mark theft in exchange for letting nopony know of her revenge plot on Twilight Sparkle, not that it would ever come to fruition, as she seemed like a lunatic who couldn't keep her composure under that sort of pressure.
Sneak, sneak, sneak. Gentle hoof taps hit the carpeted floor as Sweetie Belle slowly approached the sleeping filly, the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders acting as lookouts. Soon enough, she was right next to her extravagant bed, the bratty filly unaware of her impending fate as Sweetie slowly but surely took off the quilt that was covering her and started to tug at the Cutie Mark with her magic, trying to not disturb her rest.
After much useless tugging, she ripped the offending tiara mark off with a grunt of frustration as the filly turned over, seemingly not bothered about by the turn of events. After confirming that the other side of her flank was indeed blank, the trio took their time to leave, the tiara Cutie Mark now in their possession, helpfully protected by a glass jar, Getting back to where they entered from, they jumped out into a bush, their heist complete.
It was a beautiful day as Apple Bloom awoke, the smell of fresh pancakes energising her to get out of her warm covers and embrace the day. Trotting down the stairs, her big sister Applejack, her grandma Granny Smith and her big brother Big Mac were all discussing how lovely the day was, the colour of the apples being one shade too rosy, the Zap Apples not being Zappy enough... Honestly, it didn't matter as when Apple Bloom entered the room, they all fell silent.
"Uh, Apple Bloom? Did you..."
Apple Bloom turned around, looking at her flank to the best of her ability. While it wasn't 100% clear, there was something on her flank.
"Aw shit, here we go again." She dejectedly muttered, but not quiet enough as Granny Smith's hoof slapped her across the muzzle. "LANGUAGE, young lady!"
After blinking and noticing that her muzzle hurt, she realised she was not in the same dream hellscape that she was in days prior. Taking the time to look at a nearby mirror, she saw her new found butt tattoo in all of it's glory, it being the mask from a masquerade, or possibly a thief's mask.
"Ah'm so proud, yet so confused." Applejack spoke, entering the view of the mirror. "Ah guess you have a Cutie Mark now, but what is it?"
Apple Bloom feigned ignorance, knowing full well how she got it and what she meant. She had to thank Starlight later. "Ah dunno, but I have to go to school now, bye!" She quickly ran out without even eating her breakfast, confusing the family greatly as she rushed towards Cheerile's school.
On the way there, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle joined the rushing pony, each sporting their own different, but similar mask marks, No words were exchanged as they approached the school, waiting to see what would happen when Diamond Tiara arrived.
Some time later, the rich filly arrived, wearing a gown over her flank in order to cover up her now blank flank. Not saying a word, Sweetie Belle took the chance to "accidentally" step on the fabric, causing the gown to fly off and exposing the filly's flank to the world, now covered in an equality sign. Looking behind her and noticing her fancy new gown now covered in dirt, she sighed in resignation before continuing. No meltdown, no emotional breakdown, just acceptance of her new life. She didn't even acknowledge the Cutie Mark Crusader's new Cutie Marks.
"Well, that was anti-climactic." Sweetie Belle said, noting the obvious.
It was in fact, extremely anti-climatic.